The present invention concerns an adjustable door and doorway construction where the door is configured to adjustably fit a doorway opening, and further where the doorway construction is also adjustable to better mate with adjacent wall structures, and still further where the door and doorway construction are flexibly constructed for use in either pivoting or sliding door arrangements.
It is often desirable to include doors in offices, because doors greatly increase the privacy of an office by creating physical separation from areas outside of the office. Doors also block sound transmission, thus making office conversations more private. However, building floors are sometimes uneven, causing alignment difficulties when installing walls having doors. This problem is particularly evident around doors, because not only are the uneven variations in the floor highlighted by gaps and clearances around the door, but also the unevenness of the floor can affect operation of the door. Unevenness in building floors is further problematic upon rearrangement of walls in an office area, since doors matched to fit a particular size in one area will not fit in another area. Thus the presence of doors tends to cut directly against making a wall system that is intended to facilitate rearrangement and reconfiguration. Another problem is that doors can become obstacles or hazards affecting the movement of people, such as when the doors are made to pivotally open into a small office, or where the doors are made to pivotally open into a hallway. This problem often shows up when walls and/or partition panels are rearranged, since doors may pivotally open the "wrong way". Still another problem relates to the fact that partition panels and/or movable wall systems are sometimes not strong enough by themselves to support pivoting doors, since a pivoting door can generate significant torsional loads when opened to an outermost position. As a result, where they are offered, doors for partition panel and movable wall systems often become complicated, expensive, and high warranty items. This is unfortunate, because businesses are often unwilling to purchase expensive products such as doors, particularly when the expense of the door is dramatically higher than the cost of the partition panels and/or wall units that the door goes with.
Sliding doors are an attractive alternative since sliding doors do not swing away from the wall when opened, but instead remain close to the door-supporting structure. However, many cities and customers require that sliding doors have a breakaway device that allows the sliding door to be pivotally opened quickly in an emergency simply by pressing bard against the sliding door. This is problematic in partition panel and movable wall systems, since breakaway devices are expensive to manufacture and install. Most companies desiring partition panels and movable wall systems are not interested in paying for an expensive sliding door. Another problem is that partition panels and movable wall systems are sometimes not strong enough to support pivoting doors, since the door can generate significant torsional loads when pivoted to an outermost position. Still another problem in existing known doors is that after the breakaway doors are "broken away," they must be reset by maintenance or skilled tradesman. This is undesirable since it wastes time, increases maintenance expense, and renders such doors useless until they are repaired by maintenance.
Floor sills are sometimes used to provide additional structural support around a doorway, particularly across the bottom of a doorway opening. However, sills can be trip hazards if they extend above a floor, which they must if they are to be used with partition panels and movable wall systems where it is undesirable to bury sills permanently into a floor. Also, sills collect dust and debris such that they can look unsightly. Another very real concern in the highly competitive furniture industry is cost, which requires that parts and mechanisms be as simple and low cost as possible, and that common parts be used whenever possible to minimize the total number of parts required. Sills add to installation and rearrangement costs, and add to the number of parts and pieces that need to be carried to a job site.
Accordingly, an apparatus solving the aforementioned problems and having the above-identified advantages is desired.